The Crossover

The Crossover

By Kwame Alexander

41 ratings 75 reviews 60 followers
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 4 - 8Grades 3 - 8X4.316888

2015 Newbery Medal Winner
2015 Coretta Scott King Honor Award Winner
New York Times Bestseller 



"With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I’m delivering," announces dread-locked, 12-year old Josh Bell. He and his twin brother Jordan are awesome on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood, he's got mad beats, too, that tell his family's story in verse, in this fast and furious middle grade novel of family and brotherhood from Kwame Alexander.


   Josh and Jordan must come to grips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their story's heart-stopping climax proves a game-changer for the entire family.

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9780544935204
ISBN-10: 0544935209
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 240

Book Reviews (77)

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Kwame Alexander, the author of The Crossover, lets the readers go on with JB life with him from when he got his nickname until the end.The setting of the crossover is a lot of places. Like the basketball court most of the time.The main character is Jb mom and dad.You are introduced to JB when he talks about his skills.I dislike that is in poem form.This may be Hard to read for some reader. It goes back and forth between different stories and some people won't be able to follow along with it. One of my favorites quotes was when he said “ And know that I know that there is a reason for my nickname I like it”.I like this because This shows that he needed a reason to accept it.It is an ok book I say this because i do not like that it is in poem form.But it Is also good because it has a good conflict and a good Story and good characters.This is an award-winning book in the author is worth a long time on it

For anyone who likes basketball should consider reading crossover. The setting takes place on the court.The main characters in The Crossover Jordan Bell(JB) the dad the mom and josh Readers are introduced to josh talking about his skills on the court and saying he is undefeatable.Alexanders writing is creative because he did write it in first person but it was poetry which made it better than regular. Here is a quote i found interesting “He tells her how much she's the apple of his eye and that he wants to peel her and get under her skin and give me a break.”The book is good because it has good content but if you don’t like long books this is not for you.The Crossover - which won the john newbery medal and the Coretta Scott King Award.

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For anyone who likes basketball should consider reading crossover. The setting takes place on the court.The main characters in The Crossover Jordan Bell(JB) the dad the mom and josh Readers are introduced to josh talking about his skills on the court and saying he is undefeatable. Alexanders writing is creative because he did write it in first person but it was poetry which made it better than regular. Here is a quote i found interesting “He tells her how much she's the apple of his eye and that he wants to peel her and get under her skin and give me a break.”The book is good because it has good content but if you don’t like long books this is not for you.The Crossover - which won the john newbery medal and the Coretta Scott King Award.

The book Crossover by Kwame Alexander takes the readers on an amazing adventure on two boys crazy rollercoaster of a life. The crossover will change the reader's emotions drastically. Josh and Jordan Bell are the two young basketball stars on their middle school team. They really light up the court together. The Bell brothers need to behave for their mom and keep their dad healthy. They are probably the best players in all of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They should bring home the title for their team, if Josh aka Filthy McNasty can even play this winter.Josh and Jordan need to overcome many challenges with each other and the people around them if they want to win the championship. Hopefully their dad will be there to cheer them on. Kwame Alexander's writing style is very cool. The whole book is made out of poems. From one to the other. Personally, I think it is a great way to communicate the plot. It gives the book a great flow to it. Here are some quotes to give you an idea of how the book is written. “In this game of life your family is the court and the ball is your heart. No matter how good you are, no matter how down you get, always leave your heart on the court.” Another quote is, “Josh Bell is my name. But filthy McNasty is my claim to fame. Folks call me that ‘cause my game’s acclaimed, so downright dirty, it’ll put you to shame. My hair is long, my height’s tall. See I’m the next Kevin Durant, Lebron, and Chris Paul.” The crossover took me on an emotional rollercoaster. At some points I was laughing at some I was sad. Some parts of the book were even inspirational. Everyone would love to read this emotional book. The author, Kwame Alexander is also very accomplished as well. Kwame Alexander is a New York Times best-selling author of 21 books! He is a recipient of 2015 Newbery Medal for his novel, The Crossover.

The Crossover is a amazing book written by Kwame Alexander. This book is fire and any sixth grader would like it. The book is about 2 basketball prodigys JB and Josh Bell. They are two twins each with the same dream. There dad is a basketball legend known as "Da Man." He is afraid of doctors which comes to bite him in the back. The book is written in free verse poetry and classical. Kwame be spittin some sick line. For example "He's a backcourt baller on a break, a running gunning shooting star, flying fast. JBs fixing for the claas-bounce bounce ball beside him now hes getting flyer and flyer, climbing sky. He nods his head and pumps a fake, explodes the lane. Cross ball cross ball and takes the break kaboom. Above the rim, a thunderous almost dunk. That elbow just sent JB Kerplunk to the floor. Foul." Kwame Alexander won A Corretta scot award and a Newberry Honor award. Kwame is currently living in Reston, Virgina. In general this book is like nothing I have ever read before. Best book ever.

Kwame Alexander, the author of The Crossover created the book on Mach 18, 2014 and the story is about 2 brothers playing basketball having to face many conflicts with basketball and family.

This book is very poetic and has very expressing metaphors.

this is a nice book and its interesting and has lots of action but it is very sad

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Write your review here: Kwame Alexander, the writer of The Crossover takes his readers on an fun, exciting, scary, and suspenseful adventure. The Crossover takes place in Philadelphia with two brothers, josh and JB getting ready for their basketball season. The main characters include the two brothers and their parents, “Da-man” and mom. Josh loves basketball, his family, his hair, and values his school work. JB loves basketball, Michael Jordan, and Miiss sweet tea (his girlfriend). “Da-man” very, very much loves basketball and eats too much junk food. Mom loves school and cooking healthy food to try keep her family in good shape. One example of a conflict in the story: The brothers are very competitive, and during a basketball game Josh fires a pass to JB in anger and causes some damage to their relationship. I like Kwame Alexander´s writing style because of how can switch topics and rhyme by writing in poetry form. It also is more fun and interesting for me to read this style of writing. One example of his writing style:¨At the top of the key i'm moving and grooving popping and rocking- why you bumping.¨ Kwame Alexander was inspired to write the book because he wanted to write a good story about family, sports, friendship, and that first crush. All of those things were important to him when he was 12. When I learned this, the book became more interesting to me because I like to read about books that are based on people's stories or perspectives. In conclusion I thought that this was a great book and you should read it too!

bamboozled bamboozled

get this book book is cool book lots of rhymes the dad dies

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